For the last two years, I haven’t been able to take my annual physical exam. I can’t afford to pay for it. I’m 51 years old, college degreed, unemployed (2 years come November), uninsured, COBRA was too expensive for me to maintain, Medicaid denied me (despite my many medical issues and unemployment status) and SSDI rejected me thrice (despite former bosses, co-workers, family, professionals & friends assuring me I’d qualify). I used to worry about not being able to take my annual physical exam. Now, I don’t. One day I asked myself, if the doctors were to find something wrong with me during an exam, how would I pay for the treatment? The answer is there’s NO WAY I could. Again, I’m uninsured, I don’t have Medicaid or SSDI and I’m unemployed. I don’t have any money, I do not come from money, I don’t have any access to money (via spouse, rich friends, alimony, boyfriend, sugar daddy or wealthy relatives) and there’s no assistance available for a single middle aged female with no dependants. Therefore, why concern myself with having an annual physical exam? I have no means to pay for it; but if I could, and a doctor discovered I had a serious/life-threatening illness, I couldn’t pay for the treatment. So, forget about it. If I have a life-threatening illness, I’ll just have to let nature take its course and die. So, be it. That’s the reality. Welcome to our 21st century’s American Frontier. I have no choice but to suffer, endure and make sure my life insurance policy is always paid up. I never imagined my life would be like this. Afterall, I’m a U.S. citizen, born and bred. So are my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents on both sides. This shouldn’t be happening in this country. I am very grateful for all the positive changes that President Obama is making in our healthcare system. But I have to ask, will these positive changes benefit an uninsured unemployed citizen like me?